Abstract

Background

Taxonomy or biological systematics is the basic scientific discipline of biology, postulating hypotheses of identity and relationships,
on which all other natural sciences dealing with organisms relies. However, the scientific
contributions of taxonomists have been largely neglected when using species names
in scientific publications by not citing the authority on which they are based.

Discussion

Consequences of this neglect is reduced recognition of the importance of taxonomy,
which in turn results in diminished funding, lower interest from journals in publishing
taxonomic research, and a reduced number of young scientists entering the field. This
has lead to the so-called taxonomic impediment at a time when biodiversity studies
are of critical importance.

Here we emphasize a practical and obvious solution to this dilemma. We propose that
whenever a species name is used, the author(s) of the species hypothesis be included
and the original literature source cited, including taxonomic revisions and identification
literature - nothing more than what is done for every other hypothesis or assumption
included in a scientific publication. In addition, we postulate that journals primarily
publishing taxonomic studies should be indexed in ISISM.

Summary

The proposal outlined above would make visible the true contribution of taxonomists
within the scientific community, and would provide a more accurate assessment for
funding agencies impact and importance of taxonomy, and help in the recruitment of
young scientists into the field, thus helping to alleviate the taxonomic impediment.
In addition, it would also make much of the biological literature more robust by reducing
or alleviating taxonomic uncertainty.